Two children playing while a man reads a newspaper, c 1949

Two children playing while a man reads a newspaper, c 1949. A photograph of 'family life', taken by an unknown photographer for Photographic Advertising Limited in about 1949. Two children play while a man reads a newspaper. Photographic Advertising Limited, founded in 1926, created multi-purpose stock images with the potential for selling a range of products. Whilst enjoying its greatest success during the 1930s, it continued in business until 1977. Their trademark, the staged studio photograph resembling a film still, was its selling point and, later, its downfall. Sophisticated, adaptable and generic, this kind of image gradually fell out of favour as clients increasingly demanded targeted advertising campaigns with specific photographs. ©SSPL/NMeM/Photographic Advertising